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Yeah, it is amusing but it does bring about a questions: In a Fantasy TTRPG world with magic and monsters, what general rules are in place to keep taverns from becoming combat zones? How are they enforced?

Quote from: jeff37923;1055405Yeah, it is amusing but it does bring about a questions: In a Fantasy TTRPG world with magic and monsters, what general rules are in place to keep taverns from becoming combat zones? How are they enforced?

I always find a health constabulary keeps out both the monsters and the troublemakers

Of course, when those magic-sword-wielding, dragon-slaying mythic heroes roll into town, all bets are off. That's a job for the king's guards, mate, not lowly sheriffs.

EDIT: I just realized I failed to answer your question.

What rules: I mean, pretty standard rules of social decorum and custom? Like, if you couldn't imagine doing it in a restaurant, you probably can't do it at a tavern. Adjust for barkeep's temperament.

Insurance.

The premiums are a bitch however.

That's why only retired adventurers open taverns - no one else has the cash.

IMCs a tavern full of heavily armed adventurers is not a place people cause trouble lightly. "An armed society is a polite society".

Things to keep riots from happening.

A: Taverns with defensive measures: Bouncers, Golems, Wizards, Anti Magic Zones. Some will have at least one defense even if its a crossbow, wand or scroll under the bar.
B: Other adventurers: It is ever a bad idea to raise hell in someones favourite tavern. Especially Wizards. These are the ones most likely to still be sober when the fists start flying as most wizards are well aware of just how vulnerable they are if they get sloshed. So they may just zap someone being rowdy so they can relax.
C: General Courtesy: such as it is. People just arent likely to cause a scene. Partially because it can and likely will impact their rep or get them barred from the place. Or worse.
D: Vulnerability: Getting drunk or in a fight in a tavern is a great way to end up dead or enslaved if things go badly and they likely will sooner or later.

In fact I doubt anyone risks getting too drunk or out of hand due to the sheer hostility of most D&D and many a fantasy environ. Especially in older editions where even large cities were potential deathtraps for the unwarey.

And this applies to Shadowrun too. Especially later editions where they really ramped up the hostility of the environment.

For one, I would imagine many are started/run/owned by retired adventurers. Almost a trope.

Also part of the nature of a bar is that they serve drinks. Cause trouble often enough and your drink might just be poisoned.

And if the fantasy is high enough, there's probably a patron god of taverns/bars. Or bouncers -  Yzeswa the Mighty.

Quote from: S'mon;1055431IMCs a tavern full of heavily armed adventurers is not a place people cause trouble lightly. "An armed society is a polite society".

Like the Wild West, eh?

Quote from: S'mon;1055431IMCs a tavern full of heavily armed adventurers is not a place people cause trouble lightly. "An armed society is a polite society".

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;1055439Like the Wild West, eh?

I can see that, but then there is going to be major property damage if a real fight breaks out. Imagine the effects of a single Fireball cast inside a tavern - the place would be destroyed.

EDIT: There was an excellent article in GURPS: Traveller JTAS called "The Adventurer-Proof Bar" which covered all this nicely for science fiction  settings, but fantasy is a whole other set of problems.

Quote from: jeff37923;1055440I can see that, but then there is going to be major property damage if a real fight breaks out. Imagine the effects of a single Fireball cast inside a tavern - the place would be destroyed.

I run low-magic campaigns, but whether high or low, a magic-user who casts fireball in a crowded tavern will be regarded the same way someone spraying kerosene around and lighting it would be today - they'll be hunted down, tried and convicted and given a severe sentence. If they happened to die while resisting capture, nobody would be too worried.

In fact, that would make a nice adventure hook. The town of Ballyhoo suffered a terrible loss yesterday when the well-loved Hunter's Horn was burned to the ground by Nincompoop the Mage, leading to the deaths of twenty-two citizens and three adventurers. Count Frowny Von Vengeanfeud has named him and whoever is with him an outlaw, putting a 1,000GP bounty on his head, granting anyone who slays or captures him and his companions the right to all their treasures and goods, sundry and magical both.

Societies which allow wanton maiming, murder and destruction do not remain societies for long, and the unspoken agreement between ruler and ruled in all political systems - most particularly feudal systems - is that the ruler will more or less protect them from such things. "What are we paying our taxes for, then, eh?"

With this viewpoint, the thing protecting taverns in D&D is the same as what protects everything else: adventurers!

Quote from: jeff37923;1055405Yeah, it is amusing but it does bring about a questions: In a Fantasy TTRPG world with magic and monsters, what general rules are in place to keep taverns from becoming combat zones? How are they enforced?

• There are no such rules, taverns are combat zones and people regularly get killed there, but nobody really cares
• Nobody dies in The Tavern without the express permission of the Taverner
• People who start fights in a tavern are barred by the owners and end up not having anywhere to drink, attract business or socialise
• People who start fights in taverns get a reputation for trouble and bigger boys will get them, eventually
• The Innkeeper/Barkeeper/Taverner has a large axe and a hammer behind the bar and isn;t afraid of using them
• Geo's Bouncer stops any fights before they start (but only in Sartar, Glorantha)

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;1055446I run low-magic campaigns, but whether high or low, a magic-user who casts fireball in a crowded tavern will be regarded the same way someone spraying kerosene around and lighting it would be today - they'll be hunted down, tried and convicted and given a severe sentence. If they happened to die while resisting capture, nobody would be too worried.

One of the laws I like to have in my campaigns is Reckless Sorcery. Anyone found guilty is hunted down by the "Emperor's finest"

Quote from: soltakss;1055474

• Nobody dies in The Tavern without the express permission of the Taverner

The Taverner is a powerful cleric of Bud the Wiser, god of libations, who will use his considerable amount of healing magic to ensure that this rule is enforced.

Quote from: Thornhammer;1055526The Taverner is a powerful cleric of Bud the Wiser, god of libations, who will use his considerable amount of healing magic to ensure that this rule is enforced.

Aaaannnddd I'm going to steal this....

Quote from: jeff37923;1055534Aaaannnddd I'm going to steal this....

So when a party member bites it, you carry him to his favourite tavern;)?

Quote from: AsenRG;1055554So when a party member bites it, you carry him to his favourite tavern;)?

Doesn't seem like a bad idea. In Pathfinder, before they became "woke", there was a God of Drunken Adventurers named Cayden Cailean so there is a precedent.